Concussed F1 ace tells medics after crash: I’m 13 and want to be a racing driver when I grow up
FORMER F1 world champion Fernando Alonso was so badly concussed after a horrific crash he woke up thinking it was 1995.
Believing he was still a 13-year-old, he reportedly told medics: ‘I want to be a Formula 1 driver.’
Alonso, who races for McLaren-Honda, was knocked unconscious after crashing at 150mph last month during a pre-season practice drive.
When the 33-year-old regained consciousness he had forgotten the past 20 years of his life, Spain’s El Pais newspaper reported.
Asked by doctors who he was, what sort of work he was in and what he wanted to be in the future, he replied: ‘I’m Fernando, I drive go-karts and I want to be a Formula 1 driver’. The Spaniard had to be airlifted to hospital following the accident in Barcelona.
After spending three days under observation, he was sent home and posted a video online saying he was ‘completely fine’.
McLaren-Honda said that doctors had found the former world champion showed ‘no evidence whatsoever of any injury’. It added that he was ‘entirely healthy from neurological and cardiac perspectives’.
But according to El Pais, Alonso could not remember his F1 debut in 2001, the victories of his beloved Real Madrid or his two world championship titles. It took him days for the amnesia to wear off and his memory to return.
On Tuesday, it was announced that Alonso will miss the Australian Grand Prix on March 15 on doctors’ orders due to his concussion.
A spokesman for McLaren-Honda said: ‘His doctors have advised that he should not compete in the imminent Australian Grand Prix meeting.
‘Fernando has understood and accepted that advice.’ Alonso posted on Twitter following the announcement: ‘It will be tough not to be in Australia, but I understand the recommendations.’